Rapid automatized naming method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method for analyzing reading skills comprised of recording and digitizing sound waves generated by a subject&#39;s voice in response to a series of stimuli. The sound waves are decomposed into sequences of articulation and pause periods. The articulation and pause periods are determined by first scanning the generated sound waves and identifying locatians among the sound waves where the sound amplitude raises above or drops bellow a given value. The reading ability of the subject is profiled by analyzing the series of pause and/or articulation periods. The method allows for the diagnosis of reading deficiencies. Based on the diagnosed deficiencies in the subject&#39;s reading skills, drill exercises are proposed and rounds of testing and drill exercising are repeated until the diagnosed reading deficiencies are corrected. The method is particularly suitable for use in conjunction with computerized equipment. A particular type of tests used in conjunction with this invention is the Reading Automatized Naming test (R.A.N.). The method and device of this application comprise presenting a subject with a set of R.A.N.

The application is continuation of Ser. No. 08/958,554 Oct. 29, 1997U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,393.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of speech analysis and moreparticularly to the field of automatized analysis of reading tests andmethods diagnosing and correcting reading deficiencies.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The field of mental chronometry has focused on the measurement ofcognitive processes through the use of paradigms designed to isolate andquantify lower level elementary mental processes. Some of theseelementary processes include visual scanning; stimuli discrimination,registration, and encoding; representational retrieval from memory; andspeed or degree of automatization of learning. It is thought that everytask requiring cognition involves three components: task relevantknowledge, problem solving strategies, and information processingefficiency. Together these components determine performance ofbehaviors. The degree of task-relevant knowledge may influencestrategies that humans use to solve problems, as increasing amounts ofknowledge lead to awareness of differing strategies and ways to use theknowledge. In addition, it has been demonstrated that familiarity with atask may not only influence how quickly the response is initiated, butalso the quality and/or quantity of the executed task. An example ofthis dual influence is the demonstration that knowledge of a linguisticvariable influences not only how quickly a verbal response is initiated,but also the duration of the pronunciation. It is possible to designstudies to severely limit the influence of both declarative knowledgeand cognitive strategies. This purposeful design allows the researcherto concentrate on the information processing component of the task. Itis this part of any cognitive task that is investigated by chronometricresearchers.

The investigation of basic information processes involves two outcomemeasures: reaction time and response accuracy. These two dependentdimensions produce measures of speed, accuracy, and speed-accuracytradeoffs, however they do not allow inference concerning mentalstrategies used to produce overt responses or interpretation of howmental processes are temporally ordered. This field of research has beenable to very precisely determine cognitive processing duration, yet ithas been unable to definitively determine whether cognitive processingoccurs in a strict serial manner, or whether different processestemporally overlap.

Traditional information processing models assumed that discretecognitive processes occurred in a serial order, but that assumption hasbeen replaced by a model of processing in which several processes occursimultaneously with a continuous flow of activation going from oneprocess to another. It has been suggested that the number of cognitiveprocesses differ from task to task and that response preparations mostlikely reflect task complexity. Further findings stemming from a lexicaldecision task support the postulate that information is accumulatedgradually, consistent with the activation model of connectionisttheorists. Regardless of the temporal congruity or incongruity of thetimed cognitive processes, an important underlying assumption concerningmeasurement of cognitive processing ability is the premise that lowerlevel mental processes, such as stimulus registration or identification,and response selection are completed prior to the onset of overtbehavioral responses. Examples of chronometric paradigms are simplereaction time tasks (SRT), choice reaction time tasks (CRT), inspectiontime tasks (IT), and Posner's paradigm task. Simple reaction time tasksare often used as a baseline for stimulus registration, and a morecomplex task, such as a choice reaction task, is given along with anSRT. By subtracting the simple reaction time from the more complexchoice task time, researchers have an index of decision time.

The Posner paradigm is especially relevant to the issue of reading, asthis paradigm measures recall of letters and digits. The presuppositionof this task is that the stimuli being recalled have familiarover-learned content, and consequently the latency of the response isnot a measure of declarative knowledge, but a measure of howautomatically one can identify the stimulus. Automaticity assumes that acognitive skill has been over learned to the point that one is able tominimize conscious effort in the execution of the task.

Mental chronometry has been used to infer mental processes in readingand mathematics, as well as in other areas of educational interest. ThePosner paradigm and similar tasks that commonly measure identificationand retrieval of letters, digits, and words have been widely used in thestudy of reading.

Skill in recognizing words has been shown to be strongly related to thespeed in which one acquires beginning reading proficiency. Predictably,the development of word recognition skills leads to increased readingcomprehension.

Verbal retrieval can be used to measure the relative difference orsimilarity in the retrieval process of bilingual children, and can beused to measure general rates of cognitive processing, or specific ratesof cognitive processing within a particular domain. Additionally, thestudy of naming can occur before a child is able to read, and thereforemay prove to be an excellent predictor of beginning reading proficiency.

Two types of naming tasks have been studied in relation to reading: thecontinuous-list procedure, and the confrontation or discrete-trialtasks. A discrete-trial task is a procedure that asks the subject torespond with the identifying word as quickly as possible when a stimulusis flashed on a computer screen. This type of procedure differs from thecontinuous-list type procedure as it does not display stimuli typical ofmore ecologically valid naming tasks which include mental recognitionand sequencing of the stimuli. Proponents of the continuous-listprocedure suggest that the continuous-list type of task captures thevery elements that naming and reading both share, specifically lexicalretrieval that requires complex scanning, sequencing, and processing ofcontinuously presented material. It has further been suggested thatduring the discrete-trial procedure, the only thing that can be measuredis the speed with which one names a single stimulus, and this eliminatesthe opportunity to quantify serial and simultaneous processing that isso inherent in the act of reading.

Continuous-list rapid naming tasks have been shown to be powerfulpredictors of beginning reading ability. Specifically, rapid automatizednaming has been shown to differentiate young normal readers from youngdyslexic readers, and more specifically to distinguish dyslexia fromother types of learning disabilities. Rapid automatized naming has alsobeen shown to be an effective discriminator of dyslexic adolescent andadult students, to differentiate basic mathematical proficiency inlearning disabled and non-disabled groups of children, and todifferentiate right and left brain lesioned children. Further, anassociation between rapid automatized color naming and intelligence hasbeen found for pre-reading girls. One continuous-list procedure thatcaptures the elements of reading in a non-reading task is the RapidAutomatized Naming Test (R.A.N.) R.A.N. was developed to detect subtleanomic qualities in children as well as to measure children'sautomatization skills requiring rapid serial verbal responses to commonstimuli.

Originally R.A.N. was developed as nine different charts prepared toassess children's skill in verbal retrieval. Original sub-testsincluded:(1) Colors- red, green, black, blue, yellow (2) Numerals-2,6,9,4,7 (3) High Frequency Capital Letters- A, D, S, L, R, (4)Animals—dog, cat, cow, squirrel, bird (5) Lower Case Letters with lowfrequency “q”—b, q, e, c, i (6) Objects of Use- comb, key, watch,scissors, umbrella (7) Low Frequency Capital Letters- V, U, H, J, F(8)Random Objects—flag, drum, book, moon, wagon (9) Lower Case HighFrequency Letters—p, o, d, a, s. Each chart had pictures of fivedifferent items repeated and arranged in random order to fill fivehorizontal rows of ten items each. The examiner familiarized the childwith the items on each chart and then asked the child to name each itemon the chart as quickly as possible. The child was timed on each chartand the resultant time indicated the score on the individual test.

There is evidence that the ability of the R.A.N. to identifydifferential reading ability is dependent upon the age at which the testis administered, the sub-test or sub-tests of the R.A.N. that are used,and the nature of the reading task that the R.A.N. is correlated with.It has been found that R.A.N. tasks adequately predict beginningreading, however correlation between naming speed and second gradereading was not as predictive as correlation at lower grade levels.

Another R.A.N. limitation is that the sub-tests are not equallypredictive at differing ages. R.A.N. scores on the objects and colorssub-tests predict reading variance best for kindergarten subjects,however by first grade the letters sub-test consistently accounts formore reading variance than the other R.A.N. measures. This phenomenon ismost likely due to the fact that the letters- sub-test shares a sourceof declarative knowledge with the dependent reading measure.Interestingly, by the second grade, in the studies that used both R.A.N.letters and numbers to predict reading, the numbers task was found topredict reading slightly better than the letters task. This unevenprediction leads one to hypothesize that by second grade declarativeknowledge predicts reading scores, however, the speed with which onemanipulates abstract symbolic knowledge mediates that knowledge.

The usefulness of R.A.N. is limited because its sub-tests do not measurea solitary trait. The test was designed to measure automaticity of wordretrieval, but in reality this word retrieval measure consists of visualregistration, sequencing and encoding of the stimulus, lexicalretrieval, articulatory motor planning, and finally articulation of thestimulus. Further, the temporal organization of the cognitive processesinvolved in the task is still under debate. It is unclear as to whetherword retrieval processes are discrete serially occurring processes orwhether processes are better characterized as gradually activated withan undetermined amount of temporal overlap. The usual administration andtiming of the R.A.N. does not allow one to definitively know which ofthe above factors truly accounts for the majority of the variance incorrelation with reading. Sources of variation between individuals onthis test include differences in cognitive processing time used forvisual encoding or registration, access and retrieval of the verballabel, articulation duration, and interactions among the variables.Consequently, it is difficult to understand which R.A.N. factor reallyshares the most variance with reading.

The lack of clarity with respect to the sub-processes of the R.A.N. hasbeen addressed by quantifying two behaviors. Articulation time and pausetime as sub-process measures have been used in quantifying the portionof the total response time that each sub-process contributed. Thedivision of the R.A.N. total response time into these two sub-processesallows calculation of the duration of the actual articulation time andthe actual pause preparation time needed to register, encode, retrieve,and plan an articulation. Pause time is interpreted as the cognitiveprocessing time that it takes an individual to ballistically trigger anovert response to the stimulus. In information processing terms, thepause time may be referred to as an index of the automatization of one'slexical access, verbal retrieval, or retrieval of phonological codes.

Thus, it would be highly desirable to provide methods and techniquesthat allow for the diagnosis of reading deficiencies by analyzing thepause and articulation times and correlating these times with aparticular reading pattern. Such methods would be even more desirable ifthey were computerized so that subjects can interact with a machine.Computerized tools are particularly desirable for the flexibility andaccuracy in their implementation and operation. Fully computerizedanalysis of pause and articulation times would not only provide morespeed and accuracy in detecting and correcting reading deficiencies, butwould also provide accessible tools that can be used by individualshaving little or no expertise in cognitive processes. Computerized toolsthat can be operated by the subjects themselves with no or littlesupervision would offer a particularly attractive solution to presentsupervision intensive learning techniques.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method for analyzing reading andattentional skills comprised of recording and digitizing sound wavesgenerated by a subject's voice in response to a series of stimuli;wherein the digitized sound waves are characterized by sets of points,each point having a time coordinate and a sound amplitude coordinate;and decomposing each sound wave into a sequence of articulation andpause periods wherein each articulation period is defined by anarticulation onset point and an articulation offset point; and eachpause period is defined by a pause onset point and a pause offset point;and analyzing the sequence of articulation and pause periods.

In one method provided by the present invention, articulation onsetpoints may be set along the sound waves at points where wave amplitudeincreases to exceed a given first cutoff value, and articulation offsetpoints may be set along the sound waves at points where wave amplitudedrops below a given second cutoff value; and wherein for each set offirst and second articulation onset points separated by an articulationoffset point, articulation and pause periods may be determined based onthe time coordinates of the first and second articulation onset pointsand the time coordinate of the articulation offset point.

In another method also provided by the invention, pause onset points maybe set along the sound waves at points where wave amplitude drops belowa given first cutoff value, and pause offset points may be set along thesound waves at points where wave amplitude increases to exceed a givensecond cutoff value; and wherein for each set of first and second pauseonset points separated by a pause offset point, pause and articulationperiods may be determined based on the time coordinates of the first andsecond pause onset points and the time coordinate of the pause offsetpoint. Alternatively, pause periods and/or articulation periods may becalculated in any feasible manner, including the use of one or moretimes that are turned “on” at an onset point and “off” at an offsetpoint.

The invention also provides for the determination of a mean noise levelassociated with the recorded sound waves and setting the mean noiselevel as the zero point of the sound wave amplitude scale. In one aspectof the invention, amplitude cutoff values may correspond to the meannoise level.

The invention also provides for analyzing pause periods and determiningthe subject's reading and attentional profile, the profile comprising anumber of indicators characterizing diagnosed reading or attentionaldeficiencies in the subject's reading skills

The present invention also encompasses providing the subject with letterretrieval, recognition, and articulation drill exercises to correct thediagnosed reading deficiencies.

In another aspect the invention provides for analyzing articulationperiods and determining the subject's reading profile, the profilecomprising a number of indicators characterizing diagnosed readingdeficiencies in the subject's reading skills.

The invention may also determine the subject's reading and attentionalprofile through analysis of the frequencies of the sound wavesassociated with the subject's response to presented stimuli. Inparticular, the invention encompasses a method for analyzing reading andattentional skill, comprising, providing a series of naming elements,detecting a response as a user reads the naming elements; and analyzingthe frequencies of the responses. Particularly, the naming elements orother stimuli may be sub-tests selected from the R.A.N. battery ofreading tests.

The invention also encompasses a speech analysis device for thedetection and correction of reading skills comprising: a) means forrecording and digitizing sound waves generated by a subject's voice, b)means for decomposing digitized sound waves into a sequence ofarticulation periods and pause periods; and c) means for analyzing asequence of articulation and pause periods.

The present invention encompasses a speech analysis device comprisingmeans for diagnosing reading deficiencies by analysis of a sequence ofarticulation and pause periods. The invention may further comprise meansfor interactively providing letter retrieval, recognition, andarticulation drill exercises for the correction of diagnosed readingdeficiencies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the above recited features and advantages of the presentinvention can be understood in detail, a more particular description ofthe invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to theembodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Itis to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate onlytypical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to beconsidered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to otherequally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a graph illustrating a computer generated trace of a soundfile.

FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the variation in the duration of totalarticulation time and percentage of durational decrease by sub-test andgrade.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating the variation in the duration of totalpause time and percentage of duration decrease by sub-test and grade.

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the variation in the duration of totaltime and percentage of articulation duration and pause durations of eachR.A.N. sub-test by grade.

FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating the variation in the duration of totaltime and percentage of articulation duration decrease by sub-test andgrade.

FIG. 6(a) is graph illustrating the evolution of the Letter pause andarticulation times as functions of the grade of the tested subjects.

FIG. 6(b) is a graph illustrating the evolution of the Number pause andarticulation times as functions of the grade of the tested subjects.

FIG. 6(c) is a graph illustrating the evolution of the Object pause andarticulation times as functions of the grade of the tested subjects.

FIG. 7 is a graph presenting the variation Letter total pause time byepoch for each grade.

FIG. 8(a) is a graph showing the variation of Letter pause durations foradequate and poor Grade 1 readers.

FIG. 8(b) is a graph showing the variation of Letter pause durations foradequate and poor Grade 2 readers.

FIG. 9 is a chart presenting the 5 epochs in the Letter R.A.N. sub-test.

FIG. 10 is a chart presenting the 5 epochs in the Number R.A.N.sub-test.

FIG. 11 is a chart presenting the 5 epochs in the Object R.A.N.sub-test.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for analyzingspeech during a reading test such as a rapid automatized naming (R.A.N.)test, in order to measure reading ability. Unlike conventional namingtests, which measure only the total time taken to read certain material,the present method and apparatus determine the pause time betweenindividual characters and the cumulative pause time over the entiretest.

In one aspect of the invention, the method is performed by a softwareapplication, in the form of either a program or subroutine, thatincludes or interacts with speech digitizing equipment and/or othersoftware for purposes of analyzing certain characteristics of thespeech. Unlike voice recognition devices and software which look forvarious wave formats consistent with a database of words, the presentinvention uses various criteria for measuring the duration ofarticulation and/or pause between voicings made by a subject.

In another aspect of the invention, a R.A.N. sub-test chart is read by asubject into a microphone connected to a pause calculating member, suchas a recording device or a multi-media computer. When a recording deviceis used, the data is digitized and transferred to a computer forprocessing. The transfer step is not needed when the chart is read intoa microphone directly connected to a computer. For each readingsub-test, a sound file is generated. The sound file comprises all theutterances by the subject from the start of the sub-test to the end ofthe sub-test. The data in the sound file corresponds to a sequence ofsound waves defined by the variation of the wave amplitude as a functionof time. The wave amplitude can also be presented as the acoustic energylevel associated with the subject's utterances produced during theadministration of the sub-test. The time frame between encompassing thestart and the end of the sub-test is designated as the sub-test totaltime.

In a further aspect of the invention, each sub-test total time isdivided into two components, pause and articulation times

Total Time=Articulation time+Pause Time

Total articulation-time consists of the summation of all correctlysequenced responses to the displayed stimuli. Pause time consists of thesummation of all silences and extraneous noises including spontaneousspeech between the appropriately sequenced articulations.

FIG. 1 is a graph illustrating a computer generated trace of a soundfile 10. The figure illustrates the variation in the acoustical energylevel as individual elements in a given R.A.N. sub-test are read by thesubject. Each individual element in a sub-test can also be considered asa stimulus to which the subject responds by making utterances.

In one aspect of the invention, articulation onset may be determined tobe at the point where the existence of properly sequenced meaningfulacoustical energy exceeds the mean noise level for a given duration.Conversely, offset may be determined to be at the point where meaningfulacoustical energy drops below the mean noise level for a given duration.Onset and offset criteria are established either manually, after carefulacoustic and/or visual consideration of the audio wave shapes created byarticulation of the letter, number, or object stimuli, or automatically,such as by computerized analysis of the digitized waves.

In another aspect of the invention, the duration of a pause is measuredas the time period between first and second flags, where the first flag12 is set when the amplitude of the speech (volume) drops below a firstset-point amplitude and the second flag 14 is set when the amplitude ofthe speech rises above a second set-point amplitude that is the same ora different amplitude from the first set-point amplitude.

In yet another aspect of the invention, the first and second set-pointsmay be the same and may also have an amplitude equal to the mean valueof the background noise level. The mean background noise level may beassessed by scanning the entire sound file, identifying the noise thatcan be distinguished from the subject's utterances and determining amean amplitude for such noise. Alternatively, the mean value of thebackground noise level may be determined by any conventional method,including measurement of noise during a pre-test or post-test periodwithout any articulations or using a standard value for background noisein a given environment.

Yet another aspect of the invention provides a subroutine for theanalysis of the generated sound files. The subroutine determines a meannoise level for each sound file. Once a mean noise level has beendetermined, the wave zero amplitude point is set at the mean noiselevel. A scanning of the sound file allows the positioning of flagpoints corresponding to the start and end points of articulation and/orpause periods. In determining the start and end points, the subroutineis preferably capable of using default parameters as well as parametersentered by the user for each individual run. Parameters that are used bythe subroutine comprise the wave amplitude and duration cutoff valuesfor determining the start and end points for articulation and/or pauseperiods. For each sub-test, the subroutine preferably generates tablescontaining the pause and articulation durations associated with eachitem in the sub-test. The tables may then be stored and used incomputing the total sub-test time, the total articulation time, andtotal pause time. The stored tables may then also be used in severalother statistical computations such as means and variances of data fromone sub-test or several sub-tests. In this particular implementation ofthe invention, excellent correlation between the test results and thereading ability of the subject may be obtained.

In a preferred method of the invention, the flags may be set only afterthe set-point amplitude has been achieved for a short period, such as 5milliseconds, resulting in greater accuracy and consistency inidentifying pause and articulation onset and offset points. Spikes ofamplitude greater than the set-point which do not exceed the requiredperiod, such as 5 milliseconds, may therefor be disregarded. Othermethods of filtering or smoothing the data, as will be apparent to oneof skill in the art, may also be used in accordance with the invention.

In another aspect of the invention the traces of the sound wavesgenerated during a sub-test are printed. Each articulation duration maybe hand marked at the onset and offset points. Articulation duration isdetermined to be the time between onset and offset. Pause duration orcognitive processing speed is determined to be the time between thearticulations. Total time of each R.A.N. file is measured from the onsetof the first articulation to the offset of the last articulation.

Variations of the invention may be employed, such as analyzing pausetimes in an object naming test (indicative of general cognitiveprocessing speed) and subtracting this from the pause time in the letternaming test to arrive at a score indicative of the processing speedspecific to letters (the best known indicator of reading ability).

One advantage of this invention is that cumulative pause time has beenshown by the inventor a much more accurate indicator of reading abilitythan total time, and provides insight into the nature of the readingproblem, i.e., cognitive processing speed and consistent attentiveconcentration effort. In accordance with the invention, the results ofthe analysis may be used to generate one or more scores that can directthe use of conventional teaching techniques.

Another aspect of the invention provides for the pause/articulationreading analysis to be incorporated, in whole or in part, into aninteractive software program where the results of the reading test orany similar speech analysis is used by the software, such as todetermine the timing of the next stimulus, the next test or to customizeor control how the program operates. For example, the present inventionencompasses educational and entertainment software programs that analyzeportions of a subject's speech, diagnose any deficiencies in thesubject's reading skills, and interactively direct the subject to one orseveral exercises, games, stories, or activities that are designed toprovide improvement in the detected deficiencies, decreases in cognitiveresponse times to visual stimuli, or increased focus and sustainedattention to visually presented material. The types of activities ordrills that the program provides are chosen and modified to address aparticular reading deficiency.

The tools of the present invention provide for determining theattentional and reading profile of the subject based on the analysis ofthe frequencies of the sound waves associated with the subject'sresponses to a set of stimuli. Although frequency analysis isparticularly preferred in conjunction with aspects of the inventioncomprising automatic pattern recognition, frequency analysis may becombined with the pause and/or articulation analyses described herein.One aspect of the invention provides a method for analyzing reading andattentional skills, comprising: providing a series of naming elements;detecting a response as a user reads the naming elements, and analyzingthe frequencies of the responses.

In one aspect of the invention, the automatized analysis tools of thisinvention are incorporated in educational and pedagogical strategiesthat can be used by teachers and parents in helping children withbeginning reading tasks. Direct instructions, repetition, and drill ofletter names and sounds are particularly suitable for automatizedimplementation on a computer. The fully computerized aspect of thisinvention offers an integrated system for the collection of data from asubject, automatized processing and analysis of the data, diagnosis, andsuggestion of targeted drills for the correction of any diagnoseddeficiencies.

The interactive aspects of the invention encompass presenting a subjectwith visual stimuli and automatically analyzing the subject's responseto the presented stimuli. Particularly, the subject is presented withsuccessive stimuli, the selection of a given stimulus being based onon-the fly, immediate, continuous, or cumulative analysis of thesubject's responses to previous stimuli.

Connectionist studies have determined that frequency of exposure is adeterminant of reaction time. Practice makes better, or at the veryleast, faster. The tools provided by the present invention allow formaximizing learning potential by individualizing the speed of deliveryof visual stimuli. The speed with which a subject is presented with aseries of stimuli may be increased or decreased in response to theprogress made by the subject in responding to the stimuli. The inventionalso encompasses using consistent wording with the subjects.Particularly, proposed tasks such as “say the sound” or “name thisletter”, may use consistent letter and number shapes. The invention alsoencompasses keeping the letter name and sound activities individuallypaced, and providing many multi-sensory opportunities for repetition andpractice in order to encourage knowledge of physical shape and design ofletters and numbers. The tools of the present invention may cue studentsto correct answers by modeling correct responses, rather than allowing awrong student response to be initiated and then disregarded. Studentsbuild on their own successes and are more likely to recall a correctresponse if they have repeated it than if they have self-generated anincorrect response which they then need to consciously disregard.

Another aspect of the invention provides a flexible platform that allowsteachers to add new sub-tests that are particularly designed to diagnoseand/or correct learning deficiencies in a particular individual or groupof individuals. In addition to the battery of sub-tests included in thebasic version of the software, the application may include modules thatallow entry and use of other sub-tests. Educators can build success intoany strategy by introducing new information such as letters, numbers,and procedures associated with them, in small increments. This inventionleads to particularly successful results when the introduction ofspecific material is coupled with continual practice of previouslytaught letter and number shapes and sounds. In using the tools providedby this invention it is preferred that the introduction of new materialis delayed until the student has demonstrated mastery of the materialpreviously included in the basic version of the software. In otherwords, let the student lead the teacher's or computer's progressionthrough the material. This concept may be implemented in the presentinvention by storing test results over a period of time and introducingnew elements into the test after the student has mastered a previoustest.

In yet another aspect of the invention, interactive communicationbetween the tools provided by the invention and the student may beinitiated by allowing the software application to register sampleresponses to stimuli presented to the student. The interaction betweenthe subject and the present application may then proceed by presentingthe student with stimuli that are analyzed based upon the samplesinitially registered. It should be recognized that improvements inspeech recognition software and equipment, i.e. that allows a device todistinguish an “a”, sound from an “e” sound, etc., may eliminate theneed to register sample responses prior to testing.

When the software detects a discrepancy between the expected response(based on the stimuli or naming elements displayed) and the responseactually obtained, non articulation time may be accumulated until aresponse provided by the subject coincides with a response expected bythe application at which time articulation time may be credited. It mustbe noted that various criteria may be incorporated in the application sothat articulation onset is appropriately identified. For example, theinvention provides for dynamic determination of “valid” sequences ofarticulations separated by actual pause periods. If the subject providesresponses which misarticulate one or several consecutive stimuli,articulation time during which one or more misarticulations occur may becounted as pause time until correct or valid response is made,oralternatively, both articulation and pause durations associated with themisarticulated items may be automatically dropped from the evaluation.Recognizing that misarticulations may occur and the subject may proceedwith subsequent naming elements, the software may include logic thatresets the next expected response whenever a misarticulation is followedby a set number of responses which correspond with a sequence of namingelements that occur somewhere following the misarticulation.

The application comprises criteria that determine whether a particularresponse or set of responses are dropped from the evaluation.Alternatively, when a supervisor is present, the supervisor may make anentry that indicates to the application that specific portions of thesubject's response must be discarded.

In using the flexible modules of this invention, specific learning testscan be tailored to a particular stage of learning and used by thesoftware applications of this invention. For example, some children mayhave extraordinary difficulty recognizing and recalling letter names andsounds. Specialized testing should be initiated to determine ifunderlying phonological or attention difficulties exist. Some childrenmay need an intervention designed to enhance phonological processing orto elongate sustained attentional focus. Attentional inefficiency maycause lack of acquisition of phonological skills needed to processlinguistic information, and consequently an attentional interventionbased on the tools provided by the present invention would be mostappropriate.

Another advantage of the fully computerized aspects of this invention isthat supervision by an educator is not necessary. Through interactivecommunication with a computer, the subject's learning deficiencies areautomatically diagnosed and adequate correction exercises are providedto the subject. The computerized tools of this invention allow forautomatic monitoring of the progress of the subject.

The following example shows the function of this invention and some ofits preferred embodiments as to the automatized analysis of sound filesgenerated in conjunction with a set of R.A.N. tests.

EXAMPLE

A study was made to determine the intra- and inter-sub-test cognitiveprocessing development of a cross section of 73 kindergarten, first, andsecond grade students. The subjects in this study consisted of 73students, aged 5.4-8.3 years. All subjects were recruited from a largeurban school district in Houston, Tex. All subjects attended the sameelementary school. The school's population is racially and ethnicallydiverse and ranged from lower middle class to upper middle class withregard to socioeconomic status. The ethnic makeup of the childrenincluded in the study is reflective of the racial diversity of a largeurban school population located in the southwestern United States.

Subjects were randomly chosen from among the available subject pool ofregular education students in kindergarten, first, and second grades.All students were participating in regular education classes, and hadnot been retained in any grade level at school. All participants werenot presently nor had ever been placed in special educational classesdue to any mental retardation, emotional disturbance, learningdisability, or speech or language dysfunction. Further, all subjectsparticipating in this study were primarily English speakers. Studentsspeaking English as a second language were excluded from participation.All subjects were free from obvious stuttering and blatant articulationdisorders. Signed written parental consent and subject verbal assentwere both obtained before testing was begun.

Presented below are the results of this study which was designed toinvestigate the differences between R.A.N. sub-test scores forkindergarten, first, and second grade students. Specifically, the testwas designed to answer questions concerning the duration of thearticulation and pause components of the letters, numbers, and objectssub-test of the R.A.N.

All 73 students were tested during the first two weeks in December,1992, and again in May, 1993. The first graders were tested again inMay, 1994 using the Woodcock and Johnson Revised (WJ-R)psycho-educational battery (Published in 1989 by DLM). Some tests givenduring December, 1992, and May, 1993, to conduct this study were thefollowing:

R.A.N. Objects: FIG. 11 is a chart presenting one example of 5 epochsused in the Object R.A.N. sub-test.

R.A.N. Numbers: FIG. 10 is a chart presenting one example of 5 epochsused in the Number R.A.N. sub-test.

R.A.N. Letters: FIG. 9 is a chart presenting one example of 5 epochsused in the Letter R.A.N. sub-test.

The three R.A.N. sub-tests were administered to the subjects in thefollowing order: common objects was administered first, with the numbersand letters administered in a counterbalanced fashion. The children wereassessed in a quiet room with minimal distraction.

The R.A.N. sub-test responses were taped using the Casio #DAT 100portable audio recorder. Before recording began, a small microphone wasclipped onto each subject's shirt within six inches of their mouth. Anaudio check was run to establish the optimum signal to noise ratio foreach subject. The subject was then asked to name the first five items oneach chart, and provided corrective feedback if necessary. The subjectwas then instructed to name all the items on each chart as quickly aspossible. The subject's responses to all three sub-tests were taperecorded and subsequently the tapes were fed through Wave for Windows3.1 a wave editing software, available from Turtle Beach Systems, York,Pa. The waves were then coded for analyses.

A separate R.A.N. audio wave file was created for each of the subject'ssub-tests. The majority of subjects had three audio wave files, but anumber of kindergartners had only one wave file, reflectingparticipation solely in the objects sub-test. Limitation to the objectssub-test occurred as only one quarter of the kindergarten classrecognized letters and numbers on a consistent basis. Each audio wavefile contained both the subject's appropriate responses and extraneousremarks, and also a random level of background noise. The backgroundnoise was variable in nature, reflecting the natural environmentalsounds of a school, and resulted from being recorded as a part of afield study. This study sought to control the influence of backgroundnoise on the measurement of the articulation durations by establishing amean background noise threshold for each sound file. To consistentlydetermine the actual onset of each articulation in spite of interferenceby the variable background noise, a sample of 200 background noisesegments were randomly selected from each R.A.N. file. The absolutevalue of the percentage of amplitude at each of these 200 sampled noisepoints was recorded, and a mean noise level was derived. The horizontalaxis of the wave file was then set at the mean noise level. Separately,each sound file was determined to have a mean noise level of 1% of theabsolute value of amplitude of the sound file.

Articulation onset was determined to be at the point where the existenceof properly sequenced meaningful acoustical energy exceeded the meannoise level for a duration of more than 5 ms, and conversely, offset wasdetermined to be at the point where meaningful acoustical energy droppedbelow the mean noise level for a duration of more than 5 ms. Eacharticulation duration was hand marked at the onset and offset points.Articulation duration was determined to be the time between onset andoffset. Pause duration or cognitive processing speed was determined tobe the time between the articulations. Total time of each R.A.N. filewas measured from the onset of the first articulation to the offset ofthe fiftieth articulation.

Each sub-test total time was conceptualized as Total Time=Articulationtime+Pause Time. Total articulation time consisted of the summation ofall subject generated correct sequenced responses to the displayedstimuli. Pause time consisted of the summation of all silences andextraneous noises including spontaneous speech between the appropriatelysequenced articulations. All pause and articulation segments weremeasured to the nearest thousandth of a second.

In order to minimize error and to enhance the consistency of sub-testdata, only R.A.N. sub-tests with a complete sequence of numbers,letters, or objects were included in the statistical analyses. Thiseliminated one out of 194 R.A.N. data files. It did not eliminate filesinvolving self corrections, preservations, or inclusions of extraneousresponses. Extraneous vocalizations were considered as cognitiveprocessing speed or pause time as they are assumed to be a result ofvariability of attentional focus or of attempts to approximate thecorrect response.

The majority of audio wave forms representing speech segments on eachR.A.N. file were clearly and easily defined using the above describedalgorithm. Some articulations existed that were not definable using theabove method due to the fact that an articulation could run into anotherarticulation forming a wave shape that did not descend to the horizontalaxis at all, or one that did not extend to the horizontal axis for theprescribed duration of more than 5 ms.

If the wave shape was irregular in visual shape and was not marked-bythe previously described demarcation rule, additional arbitrarilydesignated determinants present in the visual and audio portions of thewave shape were used to delineate the actual onset and offset time.Specifically, visual wave shape inspection was coupled with an audioplay back of the sound bit of interest. A determination of articulationonset was established at the first point of appropriate soundrecognition which was coupled with a necessarily acute increase ordecrease of acoustical energy relative to the more consistent soundportions of the preceding or succeeding articulation.

Results

FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the variation in the duration of totalarticulation time and percentage of durational decrease by sub-test andgrade. The total articulation time variable demonstrated decreasingtotal articulation times between K-2 for each sub-test. Letterarticulation time decreased 19% between kindergarten and second grade,with a larger decrement (12%) occurring between first and second grade.There was an 8% difference in letters articulation time between K and 1.Numbers articulation time between K and 2 decreased more than othersub-tests and was down 23%. Numbers articulation reductions between K-1and between 1-2 were an equivalent 12%. Objects articulation alsodecreased across grades, however the reduction was minimal and wasassumed to represent a naturally occurring increase in generalarticulation speed as maturation occurred. Objects was a sub-test withstimuli chosen to be examples of easily recognized and over-learnedstimuli. Three types of stimuli, wagon, drum, and book have also beenpresented as having age of acquisition norms ≦3 years of age. Objectsarticulation time decrease between K-2 was 3%, with a 2% differenceoccurring between K-1, and a 1% occurring between 1-2. Decrease inspecific stimuli articulation duration greater than that found on thegeneral knowledge objects measure was thought to occur as a result ofincreased familiarity with the letters and numbers stimuli during thetime from K-2. In other words, stimulus familiarity makes articulationfaster.

The articulation component was also compared across sub-tests. Althougheach sub-test had 50 stimuli, the letters stimuli consisted of 50syllables, and the numbers and objects stimuli each contained 60syllables. One two-syllable word, e.g. “seven” and “wagon” , wascontained in the numbers and objects sub-tests, respectively. Theletters articulation time had the quickest of all sub-tests'articulation durations in all grades. Articulation time of the numberssub-test was the slowest of all the sub-tests in kindergarten. By firstgrade, the total articulation time was about equivalent for the numbersand objects sub-tests, and by second grade, the objects sub-test totalarticulation time was greater than that of the numbers sub-test.

The pause component of the R.A.N. was assumed to be an index ofcognitive processing time. This measure was the total amount of timeeach child was recognizing and accessing the appropriate phonologicalrepresentations and preparing for an articulation.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating the variation in the duration of totalpause time and percentage of duration decrease by sub-test and grade.FIG. 3 shows all sub-test pause time latencies divided by grade. Totalpause times on all R.A.N. sub-tests indicated that all total pause timesdeclined as the grade level increased. The objects sub-test had thelargest pause duration of any sub-test in all grades. The numberssub-test had the smallest pause duration of any sub-test in all grades.The two tests of specific knowledge had the greatest decrease in pausetime across grade level. The letter sub-test had the greatest percentagedifference between K and 2. The second grade letters pause processingduration was 77% less than that of the Kindergarten duration, and alarger percentage of the difference occurred between K and 1. Numbershad a 71% decrease in pause time between K and 2, with a larger share ofdifference between grades 1 and 2. The object sub-test had the smallestdecrease in pause time between K and 2, with an overall difference of56%.

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the variation in the duration of totaltime and percentage of articulation duration and pause durations of eachR.A.N. sub-test by grade. At the kindergarten level, the totalarticulation time was the smaller percentage of the components in all ofthe sub-tests, with total pause time being the larger portion of allsub-tests' total time. By grade 1 total pause times and totalarticulation times of the sub-tests were reduced, but total articulationtime reduction was more modest than total pause time. In grade 1 lettersand objects sub-tests' pause durations were a larger percentage of thetotal time. The grade 1 numbers sub-test consisted of more articulationtime than actual pause time. By grade 2, total articulation durationcommanded the majority of the time within the total time measures of theletters and numbers sub-tests, and the object sub-test total time wasequally divided between the pause and articulation components.

FIG. 5 is a graph illustrating the variation in the duration of totaltime and percentage of durational decrease by sub-test and grade. Thetotal time was originally conceptualized as a measure of verbalretrieval, and the speed of verbal varied both across grades andsub-tests. However, when the process of verbal retrieval was furtherrefined, it became apparent that the process was determined by thecombination of the two sub-processes, that also differed in speed andproportion of the total time across sub-tests and grades. The resultingvariations of these two component times across sub-tests and gradeselegantly demonstrated how small quantitative changes resulted inqualitatively different measures. The kindergarten sub-tests weredominated by pause time, however as pause and articulation time wereboth reduced, the rate of reduction was not consistent within thecomponent, the sub-test, or between the grades. These inconsistentreductions resulted in nine qualitatively different total time measures.It appeared to be difficult to understand the nature of verbal retrievalwithout a measure that guaranteed the homogeneity of the underlyingprocesses. Consequently, the articulation and pause component arethought to be purer measures that more directly related to underlyingprocesses.

FIGS. 6(a-c) are graphs illustrating the evolution of the Letter, Numberand Object pause and articulation times as functions of the grade of thetested subjects. The component characteristics, pause and articulationcomponent latencies did decrease from K-2 for all sub-tests; however,not all decreases were of a magnitude to reach statistical significance.Component latencies associated with the tasks of naming of specificstimuli had greater reduction from K-2 than latencies associated withthe general naming task. This latency reduction statisticallydemonstrated significantly different pause latencies across grade levelsfor the numbers and letters sub-tests; however, on the general knowledgetask of objects, pause latencies did not significantly differ betweenall grades. Pause latencies were also found to differ or, the linearcomponent between the letter and objects sub-tests, however they did notdiffer between the numbers and objects sub-tests or the numbers andletters sub-test. This suggests that letters pause was similar tonumbers pause, that numbers pause was similar to objects, but letterswas dissimilar from objects pause. Importantly, the pause component wasthe portion of the total time latency that varied widely enough betweenstudents to mirror the great variety of students' reading ability.

The R.A.N. letters pause time seems to be the optimal R.A.N. variable topredict concurrent reading ability as well as future reading ability. Itis predictive precisely because it eliminates the obscuring articulationcomponent and allows a more direct measurement of the efficiency orspeed of access and retrieval of the student's letter knowledge.

FIG. 7 is a graph presenting the variation Letter total pause time byepoch for each grade. FIG. 7 illustrates typical letter epoch pauseprocessing that occurred during the sub-tests. Hierarchical linearmodeling was used to statistically determine the component variationbetween the five epochs that comprised the intra-sub-test processing ofeach sub-test. The analyses clarified typical temporal trends associatedwith the components specific to each sub-test. To clarify epoch trends,analyses were calculated separately by sub-test type and component.

FIGS. 8(a-b) show the variation of Letter pause durations for adequateand poor Grade 1 and Grade 2 readers respectively. Individual studentletters epoch progress was graphed and the diverse nature of individualtemporal processing was observed. After identifying the poor readers, itappeared that inflated total pause durations of the poor readers was notdue to fatigue, or slower processing of each epoch, but to inconsistencyof epoch processing.

A measure of the observed inconsistency was conceptualized as the amountof variation in each student's letters epoch pause latency relative tohis/her own letters pause epoch mean. For each student, a mean of theindividual's 5 epoch latencies was created, and the variance of thatmean was designated as the variable most likely to quantify lettersepoch pause consistency. The letters pause epoch mean variance of thefirst grade students (n=25) was calculated to be 2.667 seconds. The meanvariance of the poor reader group (n=5) was 4.573 seconds, and the meanvariance of the adequate reader group (n=18) was 2.3519 seconds.

The letters pause epoch processing variance was then correlated withtotal letters pause duration, letters epoch means, and WJ-R readingscores. All reading correlations were significant. These significantassociations demonstrated the increased variability of processing speedas the student's total letter pause time increased, but importantly itquantified the significant association between reading and letter pauseepoch variance. Specifically, as reading scores improved, letter pausevariance was reduced (r=−0.44). Adequate readers typically had moreconsistent letters naming epoch latencies, and poor readers had greaterinconsistency of pause processing. This finding suggests thatconsistency is a factor in reading proficiency.

Analysis of variance was used to determine any statistical difference ofthe mean epoch variance between the reading groups. This analysis wassignificant (F=10.46, 1/22, p<0.01), indicating greater epoch pausevariance in the poor reader group. Despite a very small poor readersample (n=5), and a small adequate reader group (n=18), poor readerswere not only significantly different in their total letters pauseduration, but also significantly different in their temporalconsistency.

A multiple regression was then run for first grade students (n=23) todetermine if the mean epoch pause variance or consistency addedsignificant predictive variance to the relation between total letterspause duration and reading. Epoch pause variance did add significantunique variance to the letter pause time prediction of reading (F=4.11,1/20, p<0.0562), and epoch variance combined with total pause timeaccounted for 74% of the variance predictive of reading. The reportedr-square of 0.7624 was adjusted to 0.7387 during regression analysis dueto small sample size.

A review of the original tape recordings was also initiated to determinethe presence of extraneous noises, coughs, or articulations. Reviewrevealed numerous extraneous letter name additions in 3 of the 5 poorreader's letter sub-test responses. These extraneous insertions numbered8, 4, and 3, for the first, third, and fourth poor reading respondents,respectively. This number exceeded the mean number of intrusions (1.23)on the letters sub-tests of all subjects in kindergarten, first, andsecond grades. These intrusions may represent poor student inhibition ofincompletely formed letter responses. Poor readers' slowed processingtime, increased intrusions during sub-test responses, and inconsistencyof letters epoch pause latencies appeared to be the result of anattentional inefficiency.

While the foregoing is directed to the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may bedevised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scopethereof is determined by the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for analyzing reading and attentionalskills, comprising: providing a series of naming elements; detecting aresponse as a user reads the naming elements; and analyzing thefrequencies of the responses.
 2. A reading and attentional skillsanalysis device comprising; (a) means for digitizing sound wavesgenerated by a subject's voice. (b) means for decomposing digitizedsound waves into a sequence of articulation periods and pause periods;and (c) means for analyzing a sequence of articulation and pauseperiods.
 3. The device of claim 2 further comprising means fordiagnosing reading deficiencies by analysis of a sequence ofarticulation and pause periods.
 4. A method for analyzing reading andattention skills, comprising: providing a series of naming elements;detecting a response as a user reads the naming elements; anddetermining the duration of articulation periods in the response.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the naming elements are arranged in epochs,and further comprising determining a variance of total articulationperiods for the epochs.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the step ofdetermining the duration of articulation periods in the response furthercomprises: measuring a time period between an articulation onset and anarticulation offset for each naming element, adding each of the timeperiods for a total duration of articulation periods.
 7. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the step of determining the variance of totalarticulation periods further comprises: storing the duration ofarticulation periods in a table; comparing the duration of articulationperiods for the user with a set of duration of articulation periods forreaders of known reading ability; and diagnosing user's reading problemsby a correlation between the duration of articulation periods of theuser and the duration of articulation periods for readers of knownreading ability.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: directingthe user to one or several exercises, games, stories or activities,wherein the one or several exercises, games, stories or activities arechosen to address a particular reading deficiency.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the one or several exercises, games, stories oractivities present the user with visual stimuli and automaticallyanalyzes the user's response to the presented stimuli.
 10. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the one or several exercises, games, stories oractivities cue students to correct answers by modeling correctresponses.
 11. The method of claim 8, further comprising: using the oneor several exercises, games, stories or activities; determiningimprovement in the user's reading problems.
 12. The method of claim 8,wherein the one or several exercises, games, stories or activities aredelivered at a speed individualized for the user, and wherein the speedis increased or decreased in response to the progress made by the userin responding to the stimuli.
 13. The method of claim 7, wherein theuser's reading problems are selected from reading skill deficiencies,cognitive response times to visual stimuli, focus and sustainedattention skills, or combinations thereof.